Film Clips: Humor is the heart of a possible franchise work

Friday

For Lily Collins, the trick in turning “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” into a successful franchise doesn’t involve romance or action.

It requires humor.

“What makes ‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones’ different is that it has a comedic undertone,” the 24-year-old actress says during a phone interview. “You usually don’t find that much humor in fantasy films — and this one has it. Of course, the film also has romance and action.”

In the PG-13 work, based on the first book of Cassandra Clare’s fantasy adventure series “The Mortal Instruments,” Collins plays Clary Fray, a young woman who’s living in Brooklyn. She discovers creatures of the night — angel-like warriors known as Shadowhunters — have protected humanity from evil for centuries, and now, demonic forces are trying to destroy humans and take over the world.

Her battles begin when she must rescue her mother after she’s taken from their home by an unknown creature.

She’s extremely happy about being part of “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,” now in theaters.

“I was a huge fan of the books,” Collins says. “I admired the character and wanted to make the film. It required three months of (physical) training every day before filming and then (on the set) every day with stunt people while filming.

“The director (Harald Zwart of “The Karate Kid” reboot) had us training so we would get better and be able to speed up or slow down the action. The actors would encourage each other (during these daily workouts). Doing this film was a gift.”

Collins has been busy since choosing a performing career.

She starred with Julia Roberts in “Mirror Mirror” (as Snow White), with Taylor Lautner in “Abduction,” with Karl Urban in “Priest” and with Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side.” Her schedule also includes journalistic work, such as covering the presidential inauguration for Nickelodeon and both the Democratic and Republican National Convention for Seventeen magazine.

The daughter of rock star Phil Collins, the British actress believes advice from her father has helped her handle the entertainment world.

“My mom and dad (who split up when she was 5) really supported my choice to become an actor — because I was passionate about it,” says Collins, who will next star in “Love, Rosie,” a romantic comedy about a couple where one lives in Dublin, Ireland, and the other in America. “I learned how to avoid the cons of the entertainment world at a young age.

“I’ve been able to separate myself as Lily the person and Lily the actress. I found it easy to do that, so when I’m making a film, I know I’m playing a character. And I want every character I play to be different.”

While filming “The Mortal Instruments,” she began to respect the work that went into making a fantasy series, particularly her favorite one.

“With the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise, the acting, the environment and the magic were all part of what made it so great,” she says. “I’ve been a fan of that series for a long time. I used to run around in the garden when playing ‘Harry Potter’ games (as a youngster), so while making this, I related to the kids (in the cast).”

And why does she think fantasy titles are so popular?

“Everyone has fantasies, and some of them extend into the worlds of ‘Dracula’ and ‘Frankenstein,’ ” she says. “There’s something appealing about the unknown, and in our film, the characters have to deal with all sorts of (dark fantasy) things.”

Lou Gaul is the film critic at Calkins Media. Phone: 609-871-8055. Email: lgaul@phillyBurbs.com.

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